As willing as Abbey was to mind Leo's briefcase, and as intrigued as she was by what had happened to Spike, she wasn't happy. Leo stalked back out of the mess and followed Josh, who was following Donna, out of the building.

There was a hold up at the entrance desk when Buffy realised that Dawn thought she was going to come with them.

"I've was captured by a Hell goddess. And before that Harmony's gang was going to eat me. This is no way going to be as bad as either of those, and there are three Slayers here. Besides, you wouldn't need to look after me if I could look after myself."

"You don't have the strength," Buffy said. "And you're really too young."

"I'm almost as old as you are when you started. And I also don't have the training."

"She won't be fighting," Giles said. "But I feel that she should come."

Dawn looked pleased with herself.

"She just wants to make sure that you're safe," he added quietly.

Buffy eventually gave in silently. They continued on their way out.

C.J was leading the way. The marines at the desk didn't ask her how her day had been as she left. It was not their job to check the IDs of people leaving the building, but they were curious about the group following the Press Secretary.

Occasionally people felt that they should try to talk the person they were walking next to, but most attempts to talk fell flat. Leo, Josh and Sam felt out of place. The Scoobies didn't feel that their usual banter had a place in the solemn procession formed by the White House staffers.

C.J lead them quickly to a spot along the Potomac. It was completely non-descript. A woman had been found dead there. But the police tape had already gone. C.J pointed out the spot.

Tara and Willow shared a quick glance before Tara sat down on the pavement. She crossed her legs, formed the mudra and closed her eyes. Everyone else stood around trying to pretend that nothing was going on.

Tara's invocation sounded loud. No one could really think of what to say.

"Is it a good day for it?" Josh asked.

"I've never been out during the day," Donna said.

C.J looked around. Clouds were obscuring the sun, but the rest of the sky was clear. She nodded.

"I think it is. It's easy to see, at least," she said.

"But difficult to hide," Buffy said.

"What would you need hide from?" Sam asked. "You've got superpowers."

"I am as strong as a vampire," Buffy said. "Okay, I little bit stronger than Angel. But I had to fight a Hell goddess a couple of weeks ago."

There was a moment where the only sound was Tara whispered chanting.

"Has it really only been that long?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah," Xander said.

"So nothing's too bad? Who's been looking after Dawn? What did you tell dad?"

"What happened?" Sam whispered to C.J.

She shook her head.

"Everything's fine," Willow said. "Tara and I moved into your mom's room so we could look after Dawn. But no one could contact your dad."

"Good," Buffy said.

Dawn risked a grin. Buffy ran her fingers through her sister's hair, but said nothing. Strangely she wished for Spike's presence. He wouldn't have worried about her. Or maybe he would have, soul and all.

They were suddenly surrounded by a fine purple mist. Tara stood up slowly.

"We can follow the mist. It's the path the demon took after it left here. But it was here a few days ago, it could have gone anywhere."

C.J lead the march through the ankle high mist. She wanted this over with so she go back to pretending that vampires existed in bad horror films. The strange gleam in Toby's eyes said that that wasn't going to happen.

He made his way over to Buffy.

"You said Angel."

"Yes."

"Have you heard of the vampire Angelus, the Scourge of Europe?" he asked carefully.

"Angel when he lost his soul," Buffy said shortly. "He was cursed with a soul by gypsies and now runs a detective agency in LA."

Toby nodded. Despite his reputation as something of an uncaring bastard, he was aware of other people feelings. He was also aware of the fact that this young woman was close to breaking point, and strong, even for a slayer.

The purple mist lead through the streets of D.C to an apartment block. Toby's heart sank when he saw it. C.J rang the doorbell and the concierge opened the door for them. He let them in when C.J flashed her White House ID badge.

"Can he see the mist?" C.J asked. It continued across the lobby to the stairs.

"Possibly not," Tara said. "But that might be because he doesn't want to."

C.J nodded, and walked over to the stairs.

The group followed her eventually. Leo was staring around the building and at the purple mist. He knew, intellectually that magic had to exist. There had been no other explanation for Abbey's running away and that comments he had occasionally gotten from his mother. But to see it in effect was something he was not well prepared for.

Sam and Josh had given up trying to work it out and were merely following.

Donna and Buffy had followed C.J. They were all eager to beat the thing and get it over with. They had to wait for the others at the bottom of the stairs.

Giles and Toby made there last. They were dreading what they would find if the demon had simply stopped by here on its way somewhere else.

The door to apartment 403 was locked. No one answered when Anya knocked. Donna rapped as hard as she could on the door, the sound echoed through the apartment, but no one came running.

"What lesson are we on?" C.J asked her.

"Ah, five, I think," Donna said, momentarily confused.

"Lesson six, how to open a door," C.J said.

Sam stared at them. Leo coughed. Toby patted him on the back.

"You can't just turn the handle, because if the lock is stronger than the handle, you'll simply break the lock and we won't get in."

Donna nodded. She reached out and took the handle.

"Now, stand next to the door, over the handle."

Donna followed C.J's instructions. There was a loud 'snack' sound and the door swung open.

They sent Anya through the door first, because she was least recognisable, and most able to lie. She was confronted by a man, elegantly dressed, sitting on a leather sofa, reading the Washington Post.

"Oh, excuse me, sir," she exclaimed. "You didn't answer our knocking, we thought that no one was home. We need to examine the windows in these apartments for their integrity."

Toby stepped up beside her.

"iubeo te ipse aperire," he said. He took a pinch of power from his pocket and threw in into the room.

Anya sneezed. The man on the sofa blinked.

With a howl, he shrunk and expanded into a pale yellow shape that looked vaguely like a monkey.

It snarled at Toby and Anya, who quickly fled the room. Buffy stepped in, flanked by Donna and C.J.

The demon laid its head back and bared its teeth before it took a giant leap over the coffee table towards them.